Leafs' JVR, Kessel looking good for Team USA

Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate Kessel's goal against the New York Islanders at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Tuesday November 19, 2013. (Dave Abel/Toronto Sun)

Some 30 hours after he is having this conversation, Dan Bylsma doesn’t want to see, hear or have to deal with Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk.

Two months and change from now, however, the Pittsburgh Penguins coach may not be able to get enough of the potent Maple Leafs forwards.

Bylsma, of course, has another coach’s hat, that of Team USA for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. And in the minds of management and coaching staff, it is clear that van Riemsdyk has rocketed from an interesting prospect in the summer to a possible winger with Kessel come February.

Heading into the U.S. orientation camp in Washington in August, Kessel was seen as a shoo-in to skate on the top two U.S. lines and on the power-play. Van Riemsdyk, however, had some proving to do.

“In the summer, we were looking at the big-body guys who can skate and score and where they rank in points per game and their output for the last couple of years,” Bylsma said Tuesday after a Pens practice at the Consol Energy Center where his team will face Kessel-JVR and the rest of the Leafs on Wednesday night.

“Certainly James this year has been significant with what he has done in the first 10-15 games and carrying on. He’s acquitted himself well in comparison to a lot of those guys.”

Well enough, it would appear, to make him not only a lock for the Olympics, but a potential linemate of Kessel’s. Such a decision, if it happens, won’t be all based on qualification, but on the quick-prep nature of the Olympic tournament where line familiarity is acquired on the fly.

Bylsma said the management group — which includes his boss here, Penguins GM Ray Shero — has spent plenty of time looking at combinations that worked well in 2010, specifically for the Canadian team.

“You know, with one practice or two practices and you are going to play an Olympic hockey game,” Bylsma said. “You’ve got to find some kind of continuity somewhere on the ice.

“(In Vancouver) had the Anaheim line (Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry) that played together mostly and had some chemistry and they had the San Jose line (Patrick Marleau-Joe Thornton) that played together.

“It’s certainly a factor we are looking at.”

In van Riemsdyk’s case, it would appear that the off-season sessions with Leafs skating coach Barb Underhill — herself a former Olympian — are reaping added awards. Playing the type of game Leafs coach Randy Carlyle demands hasn’t hurt either as Bylsma and others in the Team USA camp have taken notice of his play and nine goals and seven assists in 22 games.

“Coming into the season, looking at the U.S. players and where they rank and what they can do — size, speed, skill, scoring ability — I think James has distinguished himself,” Bylsma said. “That’s been something we’ve watched this year and watches him do what he’s doing. I’m not sure there’s too many more big-bodied guys who can score like him.

“I also think playing with Kessel has been a big thing for him. They’ve had some chemistry and some success there.”

Kessel, who was a bit player in Vancouver, will be expected to do much more in Sochi. And to his eye, anyway, Bylsma feels the Wisconsin native is up for the task.

“I think Phil has added to his game in the last four or five years of his career,” said Bylsma, who is in the odd situation of relying on Sidney Crosby to win every night in the NHL and seeking a way to thwart him in Russia. “He’s added more detail and he’s added more structure in his game.

“The guy is possibly one of the fastest skaters in the league. He’s got electric speed and his shot is dynamic. It’s a real weapon. On the power play, you combine that with his speed and he’s a dangerous player.

“In terms of the U.S. team, there’s two or three players who have that kind of skill and that kind of ability to score and to break a game open and (Kessel’s) at the top of the list.”

Bylsma is firm enough in his assessment of both Leafs players it would seem, though he’d prefer not to have it confirmed on Wednesday night.

OLYMPICS ON FLEURY’S MIND

It has been a season of redemption for Marc-Andre Fleury, but is the Penguins goalie up to the Olympic task?

While Fleury, who was part of the gold-medal winning Canadian team in Vancouver, would seem to be a long shot to join the squad for Sochi, but his solid start is at least putting him in the discussion.

Fleury is certainly off to a solid start, With 13 wins in the 21 games he’s started, Fleury on fire at home where he is 9-2 with a goals against average of 1.54 and .941 save percentage.

“I don’t know, I’m not going to answer that,” Fleury said on Tuesday when asked if he thought he had a shot at Sochi.

“It’s an exciting time of year. Last time I was there, it was such a great experience. It’s still on my mind. There’s a lot of good Canadian goalies. I’m just trying to do (well) here with the Penguins and see what happens.”

Pens coach Dan Bylsma believes Fleury is driven to make up for his recent post-season stumbles, a factor that no doubt is holding him back in the eyes of Team Canada brass.

“Marc is a guy who has won more games in the regular-season than any other (goalie) over the last number of years,” Bylsma said. “I’m confident he’s going to win a lot of hockey games.

“His motivation is that experience in the playoffs the last couple of seasons.”

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Leafs' JVR, Kessel looking good for Team USA

PITTSBURGH — Some 30 hours after he is having this conversation, Dan Bylsma doesn’t want to see, hear or have to deal with Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk.

Two months and change from now, the Pittsburgh Penguins coach may not be able to get enough of the potent Maple Leafs forwards.

Bylsma, of course, has another coach’s hat, that of Team USA for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. And in the minds of management and coaching staff, it is clear that van Riemsdyk has rocketed from an interesting prospect in the summer to a possible winger with Kessel.

Heading into the U.S. orientation camp in Washington in August, Kessel was seen as a shoo-in to skate on the top two U.S. lines and on the power-play. Van Riemsdyk, however, was much more of a mystery.